(AP) – A judge convicted one brother and exonerated the other Thursday in the 2010 beating of a black teenager they encountered while responding to a suspicious person report received by an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group.
Judge Pamela White ruled from the bench against Eliyahu and Avi Werdesheim, 24, and 22, highlighting concerns about the lack of credibility of the testimony from members of the group, Shomrim of Baltimore. The brothers opted for a bench trial after withdrawing a motion to move their trial because of publicity comparing their case to the fatal shooting of black Florida teen Trayvon Martin would make it tough to find an impartial jury.
